Second-year guard is making impact, but more still needed

Published
12:00 am CST, Tuesday, February 3, 2015

In the me-first culture of amateur basketball - let’s blame the AAU circuits - Jaylon Tate is an anomaly.

The lean Illini sophomore is always looking for someone else to shoot. It began after he and Mike Shaw were the go-to scorers at Chicago De La Salle in 2011. The next two years at Simeon found him suppressing his natural desires and searching out Jabari Parker and Kendrick Nunn. He earned an Illini scholarship after averaging 8.3 points as a senior.

“I’d take shots when needed,” he reflected Monday, “but mainly I was fitting into the system. It was different.”

He’s still fitting in just months after he was projected to be this season’s third point guard behind Tracy Abrams and Ahmad Starks, and throughout a period in which John Groce has carried out relentless recruiting efforts to improve the position.

With Abrams sidelined and Starks erratic, Tate became one of necessary changes marking Groce’s third (14-8) edition. After playing just nine minutes of scoreless ball at Ohio State, Tate‘s first start came in game No. 16, a 64-57 home defeat of Maryland. Since Jan. 7, he has 32 assists, nine turnovers and, well, a mere nine field goals.

When Penn State defenders dared him to shoot Saturday, he demurred, rotating the ball in search of Nunn or Malcolm Hill. Thus he contributed - without athletic explosiveness or eye-popping passes - to a 60-58 Illini victory. The Illini were scheduled to face Rutgers Tuesday night.

It must be asked: How can a basketball guard make 24 of 25 free throws (96 percent) in pressurized Big Ten play and not be a mid-range jump-shooter? Or is improved shooting simply the next step in a grinding journey which was set back psychologically by a 2-for-33 start in three-point production in these two seasons at Illinois?

Groce calls shooting “his next evolution,” adding that “Jaylon made a jump in strength and studying film. He plays at a better pace and knows what we’re looking for. Shooting is the next jump for him.”

The coach philosophized: “We live in a world where people are afraid to make decisions, where the status quo doesn’t put them out there either way. You won’t grow that way.

My analogy is that there were times last year when Jaylon was knocked on his can. He went through adversity, whether it was playing less or lack of strength or things he hadn’t learned.

“Give Jaylon credit. He took all those experiences where he threw himself into the fire, and that fire has made him stronger … more mature, more experienced, more confident. He handles adversity better. He is more vocal. He’s been knocked down and he’s learned to dust himself off and get back up.”

Groce cited numerous players who became better shooters through repetition. The UI annals are full of guards who dramatically increased their accuracy.

• Opponents brazenly dared Chester Frazier to shoot when he was a sophomore, the same way they once treated UI great Bruce Douglas. Frazier compiled three-year stats of 27.9 percent on treys and 56.1 on free throws. Then as a senior in 2009 he finished with a respectable 38 percent on treys, and 66.7 at the line.

• Derek Harper changed his shot and reached 53.7 on field goal efficiency in 1983 before moving to the NBA where his scoring figures continued to climb.

• Kendall Gill closed his freshman season in a slump, shot 30.4 from the field as a sophomore and jumped to 45.8 as a junior before leading the Big Ten in scoring as a senior.

• Demetri McCamey shot 31 percent on treys as a sophomore in 2009, and 45 percent as a senior (No. 8 all-time at Illinois). Kevin Turner went from unnoticed to a 17.7 scorer in 1998.

• Deron Williams averaged 6.3 points while converting 53 percent of his free throws in 2003. That same player was co-MVP on the 37-2 team in 2005.

Every high school star doesn’t hit the ground running like Dee Brown and Kiwane Garris. Tate should and will be a better perimeter shooter. I know what you’re thinking. Maybe it’s his last name.